Anand L Rai talks about working with Shah Rukh Khan

When I was planning Tanu Weds Manu Returns (TWMR), Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari (director) and Ajay Rai (Producer, Jar Pictures) came to me. Swara (Bhaskar) was part of the project. They said we need you as a partner in the project. I told them I’m just a director. What will I contribute? It’s a great script. It needs somebody more credible than me. Then I suggested a few big names who support these kind of films. They went ahead and I went on to make TWMR. See, producing my film is a different and producing another director’s film is a tough task. Even after TWMR released, I saw Ashwini and Ajay struggling hard to get a partner for the film. I was sure about the film, I knew it’s an important film and an entertaining one. It has its own social relevance and has a very nicely created atmosphere which will be loved by the audience.

Do you feel jealous when you see a film like NBS being made by another director? Do you feel like you should have made it?

I’m a satisfied man. I don’t struggle. I don’t compete. When I say I don’t compete… it doesn’t mean I’m not ambitious. I’m emotionally very ambitious. I want to do well in life. I want to be known as a storyteller. But watching a good film satisfies me as much as making a film. So I’m not greedy about making films. I’m excited while making films, telling a story but I’m not greedy that I should do someone else’s film also. I’m a one at a time film director. So I enjoy going through the process of making my own films. And I enjoy other director’s movie a lot. So looking at Ashwiny directing NBS was as satisfying for me as it would have been satisfy while making the film myself.

You’ve signed Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari for your third film, Manmarziyan also. How do you see her as a director?

Yes, first Nil Battey Sannata, second became the remake in Tamil Amma Kanakku with Dhanush as a co-producer and now she’s on board for Manmarziyan. She is a balanced director. She is very clear about what she’s doing. Again, she’s a correctly rooted person which is very important for a director. She has a certain kind of sensitive balance. She’ll turn out to be one of the finest directors we have. She brings in an extra honesty to her actors which is very promising.

As a director was it a tough decision to replace Sameer Sharma in Manmarziyan with Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari?

It was a very difficult decision because Sameer is a very good friend and he is a good director, a very sensitive human being but at times there are different vibes which are working on the film… There are actors, there is a script, there is a director and we were like a family, like a team but it was unfortunate for all of us. When you’re making a film nothing is more important than the story. No person is bigger than the film and we realized after shooting for a couple of days that there is something which is not in sync and if we went on like this we won’t be able to extract the kind of film we want to make. And it was mutually decided, we sat, we spoke, it was a difficult call but it was done in a correct and mutual connected manner. And definitely in near future I’ll do something with Sameer. I think he will come up with something else. Every film teaches you a lesson, this also taught us a lesson that at times this can happen to you but we moved on and things are on the right track now. We will start Manmarziyan by the end of July or August first week.

You saw Fan and you liked it. Do you think Shah Rukh Khan is pushing his boundaries as an actor?

He has always done that. He is the most loved actor in our country with the way he brought his ordinariness to the prime and become household name and a superstar. The best part about him is that even if you meet him after so many years of great films, so much of success, you still feel you’re meeting a Delhi boy. So that’s something he has been able to retain which is very big compliment. It’s very tough to hold on to that innocence and that’s why you see glimpses of a Delhi boy in him who wanted to make big and succeeded at it but he restored that boy in him. And that makes him move along and take the challenges, do new things and he is been doing it regularly.

You both are excellent at your work and will be soon working together. Do you think it’s going to be an interesting combination for the audience?

I don’t know how to put it but yeah, the story I’m working on needs him as an actor. What will happen is something else but I will work very hard. It’s a very challenging script. I’m very excited about it and he is an actor who loves to accept challenges. I think it will be a great combination.